Singularity
by Vanity-Sky
Summary: In his third-year, Katsuki is given an ultimatum when violently coughing up pink flower petals makes his life a living hell. Either confess or die. And neither sound ideal. Maybe just maybe he'll befriend someone he's seen as a rival throughout this tortuous experience. Both pining over an oblivious pair of friends. Kacchako/Tododeku. Bakutodo friendship. Hanahaki Disease AU.
1. Stubborn

AN: Ever since I learned about the fictional Hanahaki disease long ago, I've always wanted to try my hand at writing about it! This will be a story split between Kacchako and Tododeku. It's not gonna be super long.

Summary: In his third-year, Katsuki is given an ultimatum when violently coughing up pink flower petals makes his life a living hell. Either confess or die. And neither sound ideal. Maybe just maybe he'll befriend someone he's seen as a rival throughout this tortuous experience. Both pining over an oblivious pair of friends. Kacchako/Tododeku. Bakutodo friendship. Hanahaki Disease AU.

Happy reading~ :D

Singularity

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Stubborn

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In his eyes – love is a nuisance.

He doesn't have time for it.

Why should he be subjugated into conforming?

It's just a chemical reaction in the body.

He doesn't want it, doesn't need it, won't accept it.

Love is a nuisance.

"Son of a bitch…" Katsuki loudly gulps feeling his dry throat tighten, constricting his vocal chords from the inside out. No matter how much water and hot liquids he drinks, it doesn't help to soothe the aching throb that appeared three days ago.

He's eighteen. Third-year at U.A. One-track mind towards his future goals and aspirations.

He has the same four friends since the beginning of his starting days of his high school years – why would he waste his time on other idiots? Four was the perfect number to manage.

Yet somehow, one troublesome, one meddlesome – bubbly, kind-hearted, pink-cheeked, round-faced, gravity manipulator sneakily wormed her way into his closed off heart. He hasn't bothered to befriend her nor really interact with her much in their second and third years at the academy. She's gained his respect and acknowledgment, sure, but he didn't have time to nurture a new place in his heart for another. Four was his limit.

His mind was convinced of this. His heart wasn't.

Katsuki always finds his wandering eyes lingering far too long on the petite brunette and whenever they make eye contact, he juts an angry lip and growls with hard ruby red eyes. She'd kindly wave and smile at him before he'd storm off.

He's invested too many damn hours studying her face that he can write poetry of the way her short chestnut brown hair bounces with every step she takes. Knows when she's extremely eager about something with pink-dusted blushing round cheeks or when she's holding her tongue back from voicing her discomforts with tiny adorable pouts marring her perfect features. He can write sonnets about the way the sunlight glimmers and swirls in those expressive chocolate brown orbs or the way her eyelashes flutter in that innocent doe-eyed way that enraptures him. Write haikus about the way her – what he'd like to imagine feeling soft – lips and her smiles mean different things depending on the occasion.

He feels his heart swell anytime he finds his thoughts finding their way towards her. Clutching the cotton material of his school shirt, he angrily twists his fisted grip against his heart and mentally tells it to fuck off. Everything gets worse, jumbled, confused even, whenever his small glimpses catch her with that green-haired loser. He's outgrown that intense hatred he once felt for the male long ago, made amends even but that still didn't stop the crushing defeat he feels whenever he sees her looping an arm around the other male's arm and cheerfully tugs and pulls him this way and that.

His canines chomp down irritably, grinding his pearly whites until he reminds himself to take it down a notch. If he ground any tighter, his teeth would form a fine powder. Taking deep inhales of greedy air, he has to negate his longing heart by spouting ill-words towards himself.

He doesn't have time.

She's not worth it.

Stop wasting time on the what-if's.

Stop thinking he's ever had the chance with her.

Stop nagging heart, love wasn't in his plans for the future.

Just stop.

The more he pushed these feelings down, down, down for the past three years. The more they grew.

Katsuki grips his throat, scratching at the flesh beneath his dull fingernails, feeling his adam's apple bob with every forced gulp. He coughs and rotates his jaw in circular motions to try and get whatever's dislodged in his throat out. He's in the shared bathroom downstairs of the common area in their dormitory. Hands deathly gripping onto the porcelain sink as he leans towards the mirror in front of him, opening his mouth as wide as he can to check if there's truly something in there. He lets 'ahh's' rumble his throat, watching his uvula dangle as nothing is seen. Closing his mouth, he deeply frowns and starts to contemplate whether he should force himself to gag.

Not feeling like doing that, for now he'll simply continue to suffer as he washes his hands and turns to leave. One turned step facing away from the sink and he stops, hunching over when a violent cough takes over his body. Saliva drips out of his mouth as he heaves, now feeling the building pressure ten-fold. He pounds a fisted hand against his muscular chest, hoping that, that'll finally bring whatever is stuck out. When it doesn't, he closes his eyes and sticks his hand in, feeling for that small itchy whatever it is out of his throat. He wheezes around his fist, saliva coating his hand when his fingers pick at the foreign object. At first it slips from his fingers until he tightly pulls it out to reveal a pink bell-like head of petals.

Raising a confused brow at this, he squeezes the full head of the flower. Shakily squeezed in his grip, the flower's form starts to look like a dragon's head.

"Snapdragon" he spits the excess saliva and an overwhelming bitter floral taste into the sink, turning the faucet to drain it. He washes the flower to examine it further, knowing his suspicious is right. When he was younger, his mother had wanted a graceful little girl and when she had a rowdy son instead, she had forced some hobbies onto him. Having forced him into taking flower arrangement classes when he was just a kid and other things he deemed growing up as 'girly shit.' Now, for a minuscule of a second, he's actually grateful he could identify what came out of his body.

Rinsing his mouth with cold water, he examines his throat one more time before he turns and intends to leave for real this time. He's not blind nor stupid to what's beginning to happen to him but he's not going to easily accept it either. Growing up, everyone around him has warned him to think about falling in love someday. He's still young, he doesn't have to pick now. But sooner or later he would need to or else face the consequences. His mother would scare him to sleep with the myths of the hanahaki disease and he'd simply roll his eyes and scoff at her. Falling in love was pathetic.

Taking that step around again, he feels fine and hopes to remain feeling that way. Of course, nothing is ever made easy for him as he's once again hunched over, this time gripping his sides with both arms squeezing himself like a coiled snake. He hops and staggers in place when the sharp shooting pain impales him with spears of something prickly and gentle all at once. He throws up water with a floral scent, watching as loose petals come out.

Katsuki's eyes widened when traces of bright red blood sprinkle out, dripping in trails on the tiled floor. He uses his hand to tug on something much bigger wanting to extract itself from within him. Doing so, he picks at a medium-sized stem with fully bloomed snapdragons and green bulbous heads at the tips. He spins, steadying himself against the sink when his knees give out. Another punch hits his gut turning his vision blurry as the tears force their way out of the corner of his eyes. He loudly groans from the intense severe pain, so painful that it causes him to black out in a mess of blood, spit, and flower petals.

He lays there for what feels like hours until the light sensors of the bathroom leave him in pitch darkness and instantaneously come back on again a second later. It isn't until then that he starts to see light coming from the red-tinted thin layer of skin through his eyelids and the sound of a familiar voice that he comes around.

"Dude! You okay?!" that all too familiar voice of his best friend Eijirou came to the rescue, dropping his cup with a red toothbrush and tube of toothpaste in it. His friend drops to his knees and cradles his head in his lap, asking him questions while ignoring what is clearly evident on the floor around them.

Katsuki has the hanahaki disease with pink snapdragons coming violently out of him.

Pink.

Eijirou knows who that could be.

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Katsuki looks like utter shit in the morning.

Dark nasty bags under his eyes, blood-shot eyes, disheveled ash blond hair, pale ghostly complexion, a redden throat, inflamed bleeding tonsils, and chapped lips.

He's clearly seen better days and had better restful nights.

Not wanting to waste more time on willing his body to get some sleep, he ventures out towards the infirmary on the main school campus before class. He spent all night coughing out flower petals and to his immense relief, no more stemmed variety came out. Before entirely leaving the dorms, he heads towards the garden area to dispose of the flower petals in the bin filled with fresh soil mixed with decomposing peeled fruit skins that the girls had for their gardening and recycling needs.

He walks out when he stills, spine tingling when he finds the object of his affection squatted down by a rose bed. One hand lightly touching the white roses, while her other hand scooped under her so her skirt wouldn't fly up. She always wears black tights but she was still modest and ever careful to not embarrass herself. He watches her from the cherry blossom tree in the middle of the gardens. His heart erratically thumps at the sight of her smiling angelic face leaning closer into the rose petals to smell them.

Katsuki hates this.

He's too stubborn to allow himself to confess.

He's too pissed off at himself for falling in love.

It was never meant to be this way for him.

Love was never a part of his future plans, dammit!

His demeanor instantly reverts from a soft lop-sided smile that was quickly forming to an irate scowl the second his ears perk up at the sound of that green-haired loser calling out to her. She looks up with a wave of her hand, forgetting all about modesty as her skirt sways. She gets up while snapping the rose out of its home and runs out the garden to go give the other male her affection.

He doesn't know for sure – only assumptions – that, that lucky bastard is what her heart truly desires.

Katsuki doesn't know how to do 'nice.' Not the most social of the bunch unless he's yelling his opinions which half the time no one cares about unless their battle strategies. He just doesn't know how to click with the others despite having three years to learn.

At the infirmary, Recovery Girl gives him dire news.

"Your condition is already far advanced, My Dear" she gravely informs him, "In fact, I'm surprised you've managed to keep it suppressed for this long"

"How bad?" he grits his teeth, swallowing a hard lump of petals threatening to spill out.

He watches as the school nurse looks over the x-rays before looking back up at him. "You won't make it to graduation if you don't fix this yourself" she tells him in a serious tone.

"I either confess like a weak little bitch or I fuckin' croak before finishing high school?" he keeps his tone even, venom lacing every word as he confirms the information she just gave him.

She nods, "My Dear, we all need love. Those who can't see that get diagnosed with hanahaki"

"This is bullshit!" he feels his palms heating up to pop mini explosions from his quirk. "I didn't ask for this!" he yells, angry tears leaking at the corner of his eyes, "Can't you fix this?!" he pleads, having heard her earlier telling him to deal with it himself but the pain – the pain was too much even for someone as strong-willed as him.

Recovery Girl shakes her head, "You're still young, Katsuki and I'm not about to be the one to sentence you to a life without emotions" she tells him as he grows silent for a brief second before he asks for her to further elaborate.

She tells him that the surgery would remove the spikes of snapdragons from his ribs, the ones that entangle his bones like tight-constricting vines. They're the main source of his intense pain. Once the flowers are gone, it'll still take him weeks of coughing out a mixture of remaining flower petals and floral scented blood. The procedure messes with the limbic system in the temporal lobe of his brain. His main emotional processing center – the amygdala would be shocked fried and rewired with the lack of flowers that are meant to be there. "Like a common cold, you need to let this naturally heal itself. Surgery speeds up the process but the payoff is much worse. I know you're a passionate young man, and I won't take that emotion away from you just for the sake of saving your life from something you can cure all on your own" she writes him a hall pass to enter class with an excuse but refuses to do more for him.

Katsuki leaves the infirmary with a 'tsk' of his tongue and mulls over the elderly nurse's words for some time before ultimately entering the classroom. He skips lunch and avoids his small group of friends. It's a Thursday and he doesn't make himself known until Art class which lasts around 14:20-15:10.

Eijirou, Mina, Denki, and Hanta are all seated in a circle around each other, easels and drawing horses crowded. They're about to scoot over to make their small circle bigger for Katsuki when he ignores them to go to the back of the class and settles by himself across the room. His heart aches at the sight of the petite brunette who's making him involuntarily suffer. Damn her and her cute self.

He angles his easel and drawing board at the perfect angle where he can't see her nor the damn nerds she's always hanging around. The green-haired loser and the one with glasses. They're painting their assignment and messing around by brushing paint onto each other's skins with their paintbrushes.

Katsuki turns his head to cough, a couple of petals covering his opened palm. He crushes them in his hand but still decides to use them as his main focal piece to paint. If he can't escape his torture, he might as well receive a grade for it.

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It isn't until movie night at the dorms that someone else discovers his secret. Katsuki is usually dragged to their Friday movie nights to participate now more than ever with there just being a few months left until they graduate.

He wants to sarcastically say out loud how he might not even be there to see it but bites his tongue. Excusing himself to go grab a glass of water from the shared kitchen, he fills up his glass and takes a much needed gulp. When his lips leave the glass rim, he sees a wispy swirl of blood floating around his water before it vanishes. Ignoring it, he tosses the rest of the water down the sink's drain. Lately, he's only been able to drink water. The cold soothes his scratched up insides compared to hot tea and forget about soda – the carbonation is a killer on his sore bleeding throat. He can hear his class and their reaction towards whatever's happening in the action-packed American film they're watching but he can't bring himself to join their positive aura just yet.

He hates having an ultimatum.

Either confess or die.

How is that fair?

After being consumed by thinking it over, he knows he definitely doesn't want surgery anymore. The pain was dreadful at first that he was desperate for a way out. Now that he's grown accustomed to the signals his body gives him with every cough or rasp of his voice – he's thinking, is he so stubborn he'd rather die before confessing? And what if she outright rejects him, will he still die but this time having a much shitter time?

He feels that all too familiar rumble yet again as his body prepares him for a pretty bad episode. He deathly grips the kitchen sink, arm muscles flexing as he braces himself. Leaning over the sink he violently coughs with a rattle that moves his entire body. Gagging on the sensation of the stems ripping into his esophagus, he feels blood sliding down his throat as he shoves a hand inside to get the fully bloomed flower out. He feels a snap inside of him when the two-spiked stem tears itself allowing him to take both out, one at a time. His eyes pearl up with tears as his lips quiver. Coughing up flowers makes him feel vulnerable. He just wants the pain to go away but it won't because he's too damn stubborn.

He'll surely die at eighteen. Never reaching his dreams.

He just wanted to be a pro-hero.

Was that really too much to ask for?

He's feeling like a kicked puppy, shuddering as he leans over the sink. He won't let the whimper escape his bleeding lips. Wiping his mouth, he scoops up the stemmed flowers and loose pink petals from the sink to dump them in the trash can instead.

"You've got it too?" he hears a stoic voice ask.

It causes his blood to boil at the fact that he's failed to notice the new person entering the room. The hanahaki disease has weakened all his senses, especially his alertness.

"I don't know what you're talking about" Katsuki spat at the half-n-half, two-toned bastard leaning against the fridge. Shouto walks closer to the blond male, not replying immediately as he goes to reach for a glass cup in a cabinet.

"Normally, I'd pretend that you're right but," he opens the fridge to take out a pitcher filled with iced green tea out, "I'm not one to beat around the bush – I've got it too, Katsuki" Shouto casually tells him, unafraid to be honest. He too is pining over someone that he's not sure even likes him in that way. Fighting his own turmoil and demons about his lineage, his famed father, and his messed up family life were all a cake walk compared to being so consumed by a crushing love that may or may never happen in this lifetime.

Katsuki throws his own pink petals away to turn and face Shouto, watching with slowly widening eyes as his glass of green tea gets filled with feathery green carnation petals.

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Done! To be continued.

Originally this was going to be a two-shot but I feel like that'd be rushing things. Like I mentioned before, it's not gonna be a long story since I have my other Kacchako fic to update and focus on. This is just a nice lil' side project. If anything, this will be less than five chapters.

Snapdragons meaning in the language of flowers: grace and strength.

I don't own Katsuki Bakugou or Shouto Todoroki and all other characters mentioned or those that will be used in this fic – Boku No Hero Academia is owned by Kohei Horikoshi.

I just own the idea/plot/story/whatever you want to call it~ lol :P

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are!

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	2. Accepted

AN: All abroad the feels train! Now onto Shouto's perspective.

Next chapter will be mixed between both.

Happy reading~ :D

Accepted

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In his eyes – love is a blessing.

He has an abundance of the stuff but not once ever thought deeply of it.

Always concentrated on familial love.

The one type that mattered the most to him.

Yearned for it even.

Now, he finds himself craving another type.

Love is a blessing.

"Why me?" Shouto wonders out loud, holding the green petal in delicate slim fingers. He twirls the feathery crimpled flower between two fingers, scrutinizing over the fact that this – this plant had been coughed out of his body. Something that shouldn't realistically exist as a severe condition despite living in a quirk-based world.

He's eighteen. Third-year at U.A. Meticulously calculating every step towards his future goals of never becoming like his father. He aims to get out of that man's shadow and pave his own path to heroism.

He's not the most social of the bunch but has been grateful for the friends he's made along the way. Always open to lending a hand whenever someone needs it. Striving to better himself with each and every passing day. Constantly reminding himself to never close himself off like he did his first-year.

One emerald green-eyed, green-haired bubbly young man holds all his respect and all of his heart in the palms of his hands. He has so much to thank that optimistic, hardworking, smiley young man for. If it weren't for him, he'd be a lot lonelier. He'd be colder, ruder, pessimistic. He'd be entirely consumed by his obsession to surpass his famed father – blinded by ambition in that very same way his old man is.

His greatest fear is becoming a carbon copy of that bastard. Sure, he's come to accept his old man's faults but he can never fully bring himself to forget what he's done. How tattered his personal home life has become due to that one man's arrogance.

Shouto was grateful for the limited memories he has of his mother actually living at home with him. She's the reason why he took a liking to nature, telling him how therapeutic the world around them is. If only he took a moment to close his eyes, listen, and deeply inhale. She taught him about kindness, patience, and love. One fond memory he holds in his heart is of her making a beautiful flower arrangement – whites and reds combined together to symbolize purity and passion – something she'd never let him forget that defines him as.

When a stray pink carnation finds its way in their mix, he gently picks it up and asks her what to do with it. She softly giggles and tucks it behind his ear, leaning over to kiss his forehead. Telling him that it symbolizes a mother's love.

"Ooh, that's a pretty green carnation, Shouto" he hears his sister Fuyumi's voice snap him out of his thoughts, "where'd you get it?" she asks, sitting down across the table with her own bowl of food.

Shouto was home for the weekend. Pushing his bowl of his favorite cold soba noodles away, he continues to twirl the flower around. Never the type to beat around the bush or keep secrets from his older sister, he speaks up. "I coughed it up this morning" he sighs, knowing exactly why he did.

He watches his sister's eyes widened as she gasps into a covered hand. "Hanahaki!" she squeaks out.

He nods, confirming it. Slowly he braces himself to explain to her how it's been three days since he felt a funny itch in his throat. When he forced himself to cough, a set of bright mint green and chartreuse toned carnation petals came out of him. When she carefully asks if he's in pain, he simply shakes his head to ease her concern. "My throat's sore but I'm fine" he assures her right as his older brother Natsuo makes his way into the dining room with his own bowl of noodles.

"Where'd you get the flower? Mom's garden doesn't have green" Natsuo curiously asks, raising a brow at the fully shaped flower in his little brother's hand.

Fuyumi pinches the bridge of her nose, "Shouto has the hanahaki disease"

Natsuo grips his bowl, standing between the two siblings. "Who's the ungrateful prick?"

Shouto's quick to diffuse his protective brother, "he… doesn't know" his voice softens, a bit embarrassed.

"Are you going to confess?" Fuyumi's the first to ask the one question looming in the air.

"You gotta confess, Shouto!" Natsuo grits his teeth, not liking this one bit, "Mom can't know" he reminds him. All three siblings made it their jobs to pick up the pieces of their mother's broken life. Not knowing what extremities could trigger an episode in her but never risking to be bearers of bad news to her.

Shouto knows this and knows that he can't visit his mother in his condition. He's never met someone to actually be diagnosed with hanahaki before, only what he's read or seen on the internet. He knows the basis of the condition – you either confess or die. Surgery just made it worse and he definitely didn't see that as an option.

"I… don't know yet," he's hesitant to quell the growing worry in both his siblings, "he's just a friend" he feels his right side flare up with prickling cold ice in the tips of his fingers.

"Shouto…" Fuyumi frowns, she wants to tell him how, even if he's rejected it – there'll be someone else to fully accept his feelings.

Natsuo beats her to the punch, much harsher than she'd ever be with him, "you gotta take risks!"

Shouto is sincerely hearing both of them but he doesn't voice how it's not as easy as they assume it to be. The object of his affection isn't just a random crush on a fellow classmate – it's his best friend, a friend he's had for nearly three years. His condition is only a few months recent with him finally realizing that what he feels borders onto true love and not merely on friendly bonds. He just can't take these feelings lightly and act gung-ho about it.

Rejection would hurt, he admits this, but it wouldn't be so terrible compared to completely losing him.

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After spending the weekend back at home, Shouto makes it his top priority to make an appointment with Recovery Girl once they're given their lunch break. She was currently booked with dealing with the first-year's pummeling each other to the ground during training exercises with Snipe and Ectoplasm – the main teachers of the two new rookie classes.

He's patiently sitting on the wooden bench outside the infirmary waiting to be called in, thinking about how grateful to have his older siblings support him despite thinking he should confess right away. Neither wanted to see him die a fool nor cause anymore heartache for their ill mother but… he just needed time to think of a battle strategy. Still so unsure of how he was going to go about this. Getting a professional prognosis from Recovery Girl would make him feel better if only for a moment.

Waiting outside, he watches as students scurry like frantic ants towards their classes once the bell rings. A duo holds his gaze as he watches the shorter petite brunette giggling as she victoriously holds a large cream bun in the shape of All Might high up in both hands. The slightly taller green-haired male laughs while shaking his head at his friend's silly antics. A rosy blush forming on freckled cheeks from his laughter while he's nestling five drinks in his hands. Presumably one for himself, one for the girl, one for their friend with glasses, another for the scowling grumpy blond, and lastly one for Shouto who's currently the only one not in class.

Shouto can't hide a small smile forming at the corner of his lips, heart thumping at the kind gesture. He watches the duo disappear around the corner as his smile slowly falters with them gone. Catching minuscule glimpse of the young male were always the highlight of his day. For one insignificant fraction of time – all his worries go away. In those scattered fractions, he forgets about all his troubles – how empty his childhood home feels whenever his siblings aren't there. How frigid his father's overbearing presence makes him feel despite him having a strong fire quirk. How he has an ill mother trapped in a mental institute that depends on him to be her rock. How hard he's on himself, drilling his doubts and fears into the void of his mind, plugging all his senses into that one notion: never become like your father. And in less harsh realities, how his friend always enthusiastically greets him with the warmest smiles and hugs he's desperate to feel more of. How that one young man isn't afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve, going as far as to shed tears for the two-toned male whenever he injures himself.

"Izuku…" the name effortlessly slips out of agape lips. Heart erratically strumming with happy beats at just the thought of the shorter male. Shouto grips the edge of the wooden bench, bracing himself for a bad episode. He feels his stomach rumble like a storm within, floral tasting saliva washing over his senses. He hunches over his seat as a violent cough takes a hold of him. Coughing, coughing, coughing, he nearly gags when the first petal drips out of him. Covering his mouth with his left arm, mouth tucked in the bend of his elbow, he gets up and rushes towards the nearest restroom.

Slamming the door open, not caring whether there's someone else in there or not, he runs to the sink and deathly grips the sink when his body convulses. Frustrated tears trickle down the sides of his face, rolling down the curves of his cheeks, lips, and down his sharp jawline. He loudly groans at the pain, tightly closing his eyes as his breath shudders. When he calms down, his wet eyelashes blink to stare down at the covered sink. Bunches of green carnations, some stuck together with saliva, others fully bloomed greet him inside the sink. Taking a paper towel, he scoops them up and dumps them into a toilet not wanting to have anyone suspect something if he were to throw them in the trash can.

"I'm fine" he reminds himself, heading out of the restroom and back down the hall to see if Recovery Girl can see him today. To his luck, he sees as the last bandaged-up student gets a pat on the back and given a couple of gummy candies before Recovery Girl writes a hall pass for them.

She gestures for Shouto to follow her into the room where she examines him with a stethoscope, feels his inflamed throat, and finally takes an x-ray. "Yep, you've got it alright" she begins, placing the x-ray on the illuminator box, showing him how there's loose petals in his chest and faint traces of vines forming on his ribs, "but you're not as advanced as my other case" she positively tells him which causes him to raise a curious brow.

Recovery Girl's lips curl into an almost amused grin if only it weren't for the shake of her head she gives him. "Why are young boys so stubborn to accept love?" she wonders out loud, not expecting him to give her a solid answer.

He honestly wouldn't know how to reply to that. Who else could be suffering with such a terribly painful disease? If he feels sick just by gagging up flower petals, he doesn't want to even begin imagining what the other person is dealing with.

Shouto can only speak for himself. He knows he's accepted this, no matter how crappy of a situation it is – he's accepted his fate. He won't wait until he's practically dying in order to do something about it but for now, for now he can just deal for a bit longer. He can admire the object of his affection from afar at a safe distance. Not wanting their friendship to be strained in any way due to a confession; besides what's another few weeks compared to the months of pain he's already endured?

Thanking Recovery Girl, he takes his written hall pass and makes his way back to class. It's a Monday, Shouto returns to class in the middle of home ec which lasts from 13:20-14:10. Since he missed the instructions on the cake recipe and the whole making process – he's left to awkwardly stand by until his heart leaps when his group of friends eagerly wave their hands and usher him towards them.

From the corner of his eye, he catches a temperamental blond ignoring his noisy group as his eyes stayed glued on one brown-eyed girl in particular. Shouto hears a small cough come from the blond as he ignores it and continues to make his way towards the group.

"Shouto, you've gotta try this!" Izuku's chipper voice rings sweetly in his ears as he watches Izuku's lips form an 'o' shape as he blows on the hot dessert. A second later, a spoon gets shoved into his mouth. Taking him by surprise, Shouto gulps hard, swallowing the rich chocolatey sponge cake.

"Oh! You've got some on you" Izuku is completely oblivious to the way he makes Shouto's heart want to leap right out of his chest with the lightest of touches to his parted lips to swipe at the chocolate cake left on the corner of his lips.

He subconsciously takes a deep breath the second that Izuku cleans his thumb clean by sucking on the cake he just cleaned right off of him.

An all too familiar rumble stirs his insides, needing to excuse himself, Shouto keeps his composure long enough until he's right out the hallway. Holding a flat palm on the wall, he balls his other into a fist and violently coughs as he pounds his chest to get the stubborn petals out. When they don't, he loosens his tie and unbuttons two buttons from his collar. He can't be seen out here having another episode nor getting caught by Izuku who he'd only worry to no ends. Trailing his hand against the wall for balance until his hand feels for a doorknob of a custodian storage closet, he quickly throws himself in. Coughing out flying green petals, he snatches them in mid-air to collect them. Sliding down the cold wooden door, his chest heaves, greedily taking in mouthfuls of airs until his heartrate returns to normal.

Shouto hates this.

He's too stubborn to allow himself to confess.

But he's accepted his disease, knowing that he's to blame for these symptoms.

He can never blame another, especially the one that causes his heart to flip like crazy.

He's always aimed for familial love, wishing, hoping, and praying to put the pieces of his torn upbringings back together.

Never expecting to fall in love with someone that genuinely lights his darkened path.

Romantic love was never a part of his future plans but he's not complaining one bit either.

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On that Friday, Class 3-A decides as a whole to watch an American film for their movie night at the dorms. It was one tradition that Mina and Denki had suggested when they first moved into Heights Alliance. Slowly but surely, more of their classmates started to stick around and watch movies with them until Minoru and Toru complained that they wanted to start voting on what to watch. From there, it only grew just as their closeness as a class did.

Shouto's sitting right next to Izuku on the longer couch trying to not shake his restless legs. Izuku's holding a bowl of freshly popped popcorn placed on his lap while Ochako was snuggled comfortably on his side, tucked into her favorite pink throw blanket.

From his peripheral, he detects a pair of eyes watching the trio on the couch until he finds said person kicking the shared red blanket from his lap and leaves Eijirou's side to head towards the kitchen. Shouto isn't too sure about the blond but there have been multiple signs throughout the week that have made him grow suspicious.

Recovery Girl informed him about there being another with the same condition but wouldn't disclose who. Of course, it'd make sense that she couldn't. As much as he revels in the feeling of Izuku's body heat right next to him, he fears that his own left side will cause him to randomly combust into flames. That wouldn't be an ideal start to their movie night – having the sprinklers go off and everyone screaming bloody murder that they're getting drenched.

"I'll be right back" he swallows the lump of petals in his throat, leaning in to whisper. Letting Izuku know that he's stepping out for a bit but the young male is too consumed by the continuous blasts and cars flipping over of the action-packed highway chase scene to really acknowledge what was being said to him.

Izuku's munching on the popcorn while Ochako squeaks out a small surprised gasp when the man standing on top of a speeding car on the screen makes a high jump towards a swerving auto-transport car filled with stacked cars on it.

Normally he wouldn't get bothered by this, never being the jealous type. But now, if it weren't for the floral taste of his spit or the petals threatening to spill out of him – he would've stubbornly stuck around to gain some of the male's attention. He wouldn't have boldly latched onto him like their friend is doing but still. He would've done something to remind them that he was there. Getting up, he knows its his cue to leave when he feels a punch to his gut.

He enters the shared kitchen to grab something to drink and possibly get rid of the excess flowers tickling his uvula.

"You've got it too?" he stoically speaks up to the blond in front of him, reading into his pained body language.

Shouto leans against the fridge, visibly watching as the blond grows red in the face, half from hacking up his own pink flowers and half from the anger he feels towards him. He knows that they aren't friends-friends and possibly won't ever be but it's never stopped him from approaching the other male. "I don't know what you're talking about" Katsuki spat a reply, wiping his bloody mouth with the back of his baggy shirt.

He pushes himself off the fridge and walks closer to reach for a glass cup in a cabinet. Taking the first tall glass he sees, he closes the cabinet and returns to the fridge. "Normally, I'd pretend that you're right but," he opens the fridge to take out a pitcher filled with iced green tea out, "I'm not one to beat around the bush – I've got it too, Katsuki" Shouto casually tells him, unafraid to be honest.

Both males are polar opposites of each other, dealing with their shared condition in different ways. He'd love to know how far advanced Katsuki is and what he's feeling and maybe just maybe – who he's pining after but those sorts of questions were as if asking why a dragon is a dragon.

Katsuki goes to dump his loose pink petals and longer stems in the trash can rather than making noise by turning on the garbage disposal of the sink. Shouto takes a careful sip of his drink, hoping that the liquid will wash down at his need to cough up his own flowers. He watches as Katsuki's scarlet stare slowly widens at the sight of his glass of green tea getting filled up with feathery green carnations petals.

"What the fuck!" came out of the blond's incredulous shock.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

How will these two become friends and possibly confess to their crushes? Oh, I do wonder. Uhuhuhu.

Carnations meaning in the language of flowers: love and fascination. And due to pop culture/based on the Irish writer Oscar Wilde – green carnations were associated with homosexuality.

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are!

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	3. Submission

AN: Wow! Thank you for showing my lil fic some love and for being patient with me. I wish I had more free time like I did in the summer to just type away like that one Kermit The Frog gif. Haha. But it's back to that college grind for me. Whomp, whomp.

This story is definitely one of the more out there/angsty-er ideas I've had for Kacchako (and first time fleshing out Tododeku) but fear not, it won't end in tragedy!

And as I've mentioned before – it's not gonna be a long story just for the fact that I don't wanna drag it on forever and I still have another story to finish. (*Cough* _Just Friends, Right? *_ Cough*

Ps. I wrote another long (10k+) Kacchako one-shot titled _Here With Me_. Please go and check it out!

Okay, enough of my ramblings.

Happy reading~ :D

Submission

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Dude, you look like shit" Eijirou lets a frown droop his usual smiling face. It's night time at the dorms and he both needed to take a piss and wanted to refill his glass of water. Heading downstairs to the shared bathroom, he opened the door to find a trail of dark rich blood splattered on the tiled ground.

His first reaction was to panic and ask if whoever was in there needed for him to call a teacher or Recovery Girl. His heart's about to thump out of his chest when the light's sensors turn on. Frantic eyes wander towards the shower stalls. There he finds Katsuki settled against the wall, clad in checkered black and grey patterned pajama bottoms, shirtless with a steady stream of blood dripping out of the corners of his mouth down his chin and towards his chest. He has his eyes closed, throat rumbling in a silent wail of pain.

"Like… I don't…" Katsuki wheezes, struggling to sound intimidating, "fucking know!" he coughs hard causing him to open his eyes, clutching onto his torso as he leans to his side where he had a small mound of assorted pink petals and long stems piling up.

Eijirou walks over to bend down right in front of his friend, frown deepening by the second as he studies his best friend. Katsuki's eyes were swollen from apparent tears he's shed. Sunken, defeated scarlet eyes stare back into his own rubies. "You need to tell her" he feels like a broken record despite not having confronted him since the first time he found Katsuki passed out in the bathroom when he first discovered his friend's severe secret.

"N-N-No!" Katsuki groans out stubbornly.

With each and every day passing him by and his condition worsening – he's feeling like giving up in everything. It's a foreign feeling that he's never known before this: defeat. Getting his ass handed to him during hero training was one thing but this? This was the true definition of what it means to be defeated and to be in complete agony.

His stomach hurts both from his lack of appetite due his innards squeezing him from the inside out and because he's truly hungry. He's lost some weight, doesn't even want to think about what that means in muscle mass. His eyes are in a constant state of blood-shot and crying. His teeth won't stop chattering as a reminder of his discomfort. He's usually holding onto the walls when walking alone from how dizzy he feels due to blood loss. The flowers have gotten even more dreadful – especially whenever he catches glimpses of Ochako. The flowers continue to sprout out of him in bunches anytime he's near her and it brings him nothing but physical and mental suffering.

Eijirou plops down, leaning over to place his hands on Katsuki's shoulders, seeing him visibly wince at the pressure. "Who the hell are you! My best bro wouldn't give in so easily!" he grits his sharp teeth, straining to control the volume of his voice in this late hour. Shaking Katsuki's shoulders, he repeats his question until he gets a response.

"She… deserves better" now it's Katsuki's turn to frown, his muscles flex in his arms as he balls his hands into fists, pounding one against his blood-stained chest, "I'm not, I'm not good enough for her, okay!" he coughs out floral scented blood, "I'll never be good enough for her like, shitty Deku" he doesn't care at this point who sees him cry. "I know… I know I'm an asshole, hell, I still can barely remember half our class's names let alone their quirks" he bitterly chuckles through quivering lips, "I'm loud, impulsive, and an inconvenience, always getting fuckin' kidnapped n'shit" he sluggishly lets his fisted grip fall down to his side. Turning his tear-streaked cheek against the cool tile of the shower's wall, he closes his eyes, "I wish I'd never fallen in love, Ei" Katsuki's breath shudders, hot tears cascading down his tired features.

"Ka…" Eijirou was one of the firsts to befriend the explosive blond. They've been through both good and bad times, no obstacle ever too large of a hurdle in their individual path's to greatness. In these short, nearing, three years that he's known him, Eijirou has never seen a defeated Katsuki. Not when he was kidnapped, not when he first failed the provisional license exam, and not when he learned the truth about Izuku's quirk – something that Eijirou later learned about.

Katsuki fought, and fought, and fought – climbing to the top because his drive, his passion, his one-tracked mind, and his guarded heart all guided him towards the top.

"Katsuki!" Eijirou breaks down, pulling his best friend in for a tight hug. He cries even harder when he feels Katsuki reciprocate, wrapping his arms around him with as much strength he has left in his body.

Eijirou takes in Katsuki's pained sobs.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Life must truly hate him.

Katsuki spent most of his night in the shower stall, too weak to move until Eijirou hoisted him up and took him back into his room. There, he barely managed to get any sleep as the relentless pink petals reminded him of one thing he'll never have.

In a matter of hours, the once vibrant petals started to become jagged and torn. They went from a bright blush pink to a paler sickly color. His saliva was mixed with more blood, causing him to seek Recovery Girl. She prescribed him an inhaler and a hall pass for whenever he needed it so she can administer morphine. Due to his quirk, he found that his body burns the morphine in a matter of hours. It seemed pointless to even try alleviating it.

It's currently their lunch break but he's too exhausted to even attempt moving from his spot. Eijirou came to ask him if he'd like anything from the cafeteria or vending machine. Katsuki simply said, a ice cold water bottle would do. Nodding, he watched his friend leave him alone. Most of Class 3-A left the room except for the one person he was desperately trying to avoid.

Wanting to forget the world for a few minutes, Katsuki folds his arms on top of his desk and settles his head in. He's burning up from his body overreacting to the morphine he was injected with that morning before class. Yet, he's wearing a grey baggy hoodie because no matter the temperature, he always felt cold.

Shivering, he closes his eyes briefly and tries to zone out. It worked until he felt a presence lingering to the side of him. "You okay, Katsuki?" his heart begins thundering when he hears her voice. That sweet voice that entrances him.

"Fuck off, Ochako!" he forces his voice to project from his little hiding hole of his arms.

"Don't bite my hand off, I'm just asking…" he can practically envision her pouty face that he finds stupidly endearing. She deeply sighs, scraping the desk she's sitting on closer to his side which does nothing for the petals threatening to spill out of him. Scooting his arms closer together into himself, he chomps down on his bottom lip to stop him from retching. He can taste the iron and floral scent of his blood building up in his throat.

"I've noticed that you've been visiting the infirmary frequently lately" she tells him, catching him by surprise. "Are you coming down with a cold? I could make you my mom's famous okayu. I'm not the greatest cook but I can try!" she's bubbly and sweet, offering to make him rice porridge of all things.

When he thinks she isn't watching, she is. He's shaking his head, unable to reply back without throwing up what's pooling in his cheeks. The last bit of his barrier breaks when she suddenly pulls his hoodie up, exposing his spiky blond hair which has been droopier as he's gotten worse. She lifts his bangs to check his heated forehead with a small gasp. "You're burning up!"

The soft touch of her cold hand causes him to shakily stand up, his desk chair falling on its back. He clasps both his hands to his mouth and runs out. She's so confused by what just happened that she doesn't call out to him. On his urgent way out, Eijirou lets out a small 'whoa!' as he was about to open the door to enter the classroom with drinks in hand.

Katsuki rushes to the nearest restroom he can find. His running motions further jiggle his insides as the bloody spit begins to seep out of the crevices of his fingers, staining them as he busts through the door to throw up in the first stall he finds. Dropping to his knees, his body hunches over the toilet seat – his hoodie, the floor, and toilet bowl all get sprayed in chunks of withered flowers and blood.

He feels the tears prickling at the corner of his eyes as he heavily pants once the episode passes. Staying on the ground, he clings onto the toilet seat and whimpers from the pain. The thorns in his ribs are getting worse and what little bit of morphine was left in his system already wore off.

Hearing someone enter the restroom, he's half-expecting it to be Eijirou but if it wasn't then he just doesn't give a shit anymore. If anyone asks, he'll deny the truth but won't hide that he's in turmoil.

Katsuki manages to flush the toilet before the intruder enters his opened stall. To his surprise, it's the half-n-half bastard. "I saw you run in here" he tells him, leaning down to give Katsuki a hand.

Shouto watches Katsuki roll his eyes at him, refusing the offered hand and doesn't sarcastically reply back. "Are you okay?" he asks, being the second person today to ask him the same question.

"No" Katsuki truthfully answers, taking toilet paper to clean his mess up before taking off his hoodie and folding it into itself to cover the fresh blood stains.

Shouto patiently waits for him to finish before offering his hand again. This time, Katsuki takes it knowing he's starting to see double with how dizzy he's been.

"Katsuki, I know that we aren't really friends and it's probably not my place to ask" Shouto begins, leaning against the wall with arms crossed. Katsuki goes to the sink to wash his hands and gargle lukewarm water to help get some of the floral iron taste out of his mouth. "Who are you in love with?"

Normally Katsuki would make Shouto work for the answer. Playing at his defense and denial cards but he's just too tired of the games to really do both. "Ochako" he grunts out, spitting the excess water out.

Shouto can't really say that he's all that surprised. There was a different aura in the rare occurrences around Katsuki whenever he was near Ochako. It was like, he secretly took in all of her euphoric presence within him and deeply committed it to memory. His voice was quieter, softer, clearer whenever he spoke to her and he had all the patience in the world for her. When he was lecturing the other so called 'losers' of their class, it was harsher but with Ochako, his threats were only half-hearted. Ochako made Katsuki act differently, truer, honest, and now the apparent distance between the two was starting to make sense.

"Are you going to confess?" he knows it's a stupid question, considering who he's talking to but it worth a shot.

Katsuki glares at him, blinking a second later to refocus his vision, "I don't plan to. At the rate I'm going, I probably have a week or two left in me"

Shouto's eyes widened at the news, taken off-guard by Katsuki's claim of defeat. The pink snapdragons had taken down the beast. He was one of the top students, excelling in both grades and hero training but pink flowers of all things took him down.

"You're not…" he gets cut off before finishing his sentence.

"I don't fuckin' know yet" Katsuki tiredly rubs his eyes. Pushing himself away from the sink, he staggers a bit before heading for the door. "Oi, whatever you do…" he slowly tilts his head to look at Shouto from his peripheral, "don't be a dumbass like me and confess to Izuku before you end up like me" Katsuki leaves him with those words, stunned into silence as Shouto could do nothing but watch the tall blond walk out while ghosting a hand against the wall in case he needed the support.

What shocked Shouto was the fact that Katsuki knew who he's pining for exactly. He hadn't told him anything other than shared that he too has the hanahaki disease with his own flowers being green carnations.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Shouto's going to do it.

He's going to confess.

Seeing Katsuki's terminal condition was the little push that he needed in order to go deal with his own matters of the heart. It wasn't fair that both young men shared the same disease but both having entirely different experiences with it.

Katsuki was on the verge of collapse and still undecided on what he was going to do. It was clear to Shouto that the blond had no intention of forcing himself to forget about his unrequited love. Shouto himself vowed that he'd brave through and see where his confession leads him. He usually keeps to himself, not really in the know of who's dating who in their class. If Izuku and Ochako are truly an item, then he'd reevaluate his own feelings. Of course, he'd congratulate Izuku and wish him all the best but… it'd still sting him.

Confessing was the only way he'd ever know. Maybe once he gets his answer whether it's the one he's looking for or not – just maybe, he'll make more of an effort to enter Katsuki's defenses. Talk him out of whatever he's planning on doing and get the stubborn guy to confess before it's too late. He'd hate seeing someone with so much potential just give up before even really trying. Katsuki needed to be saved but most of all – he needs a friend.

He's pretty sure that if he goes and asks Eijirou, the red-head would probably say he's tried but Shouto knows that means that he hasn't tried hard enough to snap Katsuki out of his daze. Katsuki needs someone to show him tough love and shove him towards the right direction, something that Shouto knows he's capable of doing. But first, he needs to deal with his own problem.

If he's being honest with himself – he's doing everything on a whim.

Shouto wonders if it'd be gross to set his regurgitated green petals in a trail leading towards a location in where he can be alone with Izuku. He'd wash and clean his crisp, pristine, and still in-tact flowers before setting them out to dry. It'd be a way to reveal the truth to Izuku and have it be personal to him but he isn't so sure. The only place he can think of luring the green-haired male was towards the rooftop of their dorms. Having his dorm on the fifth floor had it perks with easier access to the roof deck that had, over the past two and half years been sprinkled with everyone's little touches. The deck had actual furniture and a built-in firepit courtesy of Momo's family's wealth with the rest of Class 3-A adding knick-knacks to make it feel a tad homier.

He's thinking that he could scatter his green petals on the stairs leading to the roof and what few fully stemmed carnations that he pulled out during his rare severe episodes could be the centerpiece. He'd hold them behind his back and then present them to Izuku.

Shouto gulps down the thick floral scented phlegm, cringing at the taste and texture of it sliding back down his throat. Reminding himself to calm down for his sake. He's noticed that the flowers flourish whenever he thinks a second too long on Izuku or when they interact. He goes over his plans and decides that the only way he'd get Izuku to come to the roof would be if he went to personally get him.

Shouto is no stranger to impulsive decisions when it comes to dealing with villains but when it involves himself directly, putting himself out there like this – that's where he gets points deducted. It's a Saturday night and most of their class was either out on dates or had been granted special permission to leave for home for the duration of the weekend. He knows from his group chat that Izuku had made no plans to leave the dorms but Ochako did, finally taking her friends suggestion to go visit her parents.

Shouto hadn't contributed anything other than a thumbs-up emoji to the chat. His heart fluttering like a restless hummingbird at the thought of getting his chance. He doesn't mind how close Izuku and Ochako are, sometimes thinking they're practically glued to the hip but he also wasn't that rude jerk he was from before. He could never ask Ochako to leave them alone for a couple of hours – if he's ever miraculously given that much time with Izuku. A few minutes would do, especially if he'll get rejected.

"Stop" he lets the word slip from his lips, audibly reminding himself to stop thinking in the negative. He knows Izuku, if he's getting rejected tonight then it'd be in the politest way he's ever seen. Pinching his shirt to sniff it, he makes a face feeling like it isn't clean enough for the occasion. Switching into a simple white shirt, he adjusts the buckle on his black jeans and makes his way out wearing aqua blue house slippers. Shuffling his way down the hall towards the elevators, he makes a mental note to press for the fourth floor to check up on Katsuki. He knows what he just told himself – he'd deal with his own dilemma first before dealing with Katsuki but the more he thought about it, the more that idea didn't sit well with him.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The elevator dings twice, once to open up and once to leave him on Katsuki's floor.

He's about to knock with the back of his hand, letting his knuckles rasp against the door when the door automatically opened. The small patch of light coming from the hallway was the only light source to illuminate the dark room. Shouto doesn't make a sound as he lets himself in, panic rising silently within him with how sloppy Katsuki has gotten with security. The explosive blond was usually the first to double lock his doors from the few times Shouto has sought him out in the past to inform him on dorm related events and always having to wait a couple of minutes for Katsuki to grumpily undo the deadbolt and bottom look.

Entering the room, he finds Katsuki on his bed, seated with his back resting against the headboard. His head hunched over with dried out bloody, pale pink, broken snapdragon petals stuck onto his naked chest. In his lap, he has their second year's yearbook opened to Class 2-A's made-up individual popularity category section. Ochako had won, 'most likely to kick someone's unsuspecting ass because they don't take her serious for being too sweet.' The glossy paper had been ruined by the blood splattering the corners of the stuck pages. On instinct, Shouto's about to run out of the room and call for a teacher because his mind goes to the worst possible scenario.

He's about to turn and walk out when he hears a long gravelly gasp come out of the blond. To his immense relief, he watches as Katsuki blindly pats around his bed for his inhaler. Taking in a couple of puffs of the medicated air, he opens his weary eyes to see Shouto standing right by his bed's side. Snapping the yearbook closed, he narrows his eyes at his new visitor. "I ain't fuckin' dead just yet" he wheezes out, rubbing his hand over his chest to check. "Ah, shit" he curses, seeing that the blood had completely dried and glued the petals onto him.

"Would confessing really be so bad that you'd jeopardize your own health?"

"Yes"

"You and I both know that Ochako would hear you out"

"I'm not looking for charity, Shouto. I fuckin' love her but she's already got goody-goody Deku. What shitty luck we both have, eh? Falling for two dumbasses that don't even notice us"

Katsuki violently coughed to the point it made him get up. He discarded his ugly petals into a black plastic bag he kept hanging from his nightstand for this specific reason. Shouto watches him scoop the disfigured flowers, remembering a time just recently when they had been just as beautiful and lively as his own.

"I'm going to confess to him tonight" Shouto blurts out in hopes that it'll make Katsuki reconsider.

Katsuki takes a small red stained hand towel, presumably once being a white cloth. He uncaps his water bottle and soaks his towel to clean his chest. He simply nods at the news, "good luck" he tells the two-toned male. Katsuki freely complimenting anyone in a way that didn't drip with sarcasm nor a nasty remark threw Shouto for a loop. It wasn't like him to be acting this way.

He's at a loss for words, wishing he knew what to tell him. He's relieved that Katsuki's still alive but if he continued going down this hellish spiral – he just couldn't bring himself to even think about it.

"You'd make her cry, you know?" Shouto doesn't need to clarify.

Katsuki closes his eyes, balling his hands into fists at his side. "I know" he painfully replies. He damn well knows that even if he couldn't have her in the way he dreams of – Ochako would still mourn him. Allowing the flowers and thorns wrapping inside of him to win would cause him to find an eternal peace but then he'd just be leaving the only girl he's ever deeply loved all alone to blame herself.

Both were shitty ends in his opinion but he needs more time. As much as his deteriorating body will allow him to suck it up and confess. He hates knowing that Shouto's right – they aren't even friends, dammit.

"Soon" Katsuki whispers as he watches Shouto leave his room.

Shouto doesn't let him see the small smile forming at his lips. He leaves with a peace sign raised to signal that he's rooting for him too. Hanahaki wasn't an easy disease to deal with. Shouto felt pain but he hadn't gotten so bad that he's constantly throwing up floral blood or fully stemmed flowers. Katsuki's version was slowly sucking the life out of him but Shouto knows that he's just extremely stubborn. In the end, he'd make the right decision.

Katsuki's strong, he's a fighter.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Getting back on track, Shouto goes down to Izuku's room on the second floor. Knocking three times in their secret code, Izuku warmly opens the door with a bright smile that can rival the sun. He's let into the All Might collector's paradise of a room and basks in the aura. This is Izuku and this is the guy that he's heads over heels in love with. Izuku is his best friend which he reminds himself that, that'll never change no matter what rift this confession may cause. He knows that they'll eventually get over it and go back to normal.

"What's up? Your text was pretty vague…" Izuku looks at his phone, making sure that he's read it right even if Shouto was already there and standing before him. It was sometimes confusing for him to decipher what Shouto means in a text message if he doesn't use any emojis.

Gently taking Izuku's phone from his grip, he tosses it on the bed with a single bounce. Shouto gulps, straining his throat to not let any green petals out. He pushes Izuku against the back of his bedroom's door and presses his palms against either side of the male's head, caging him into his taller figure.

"Izuku…" Shouto closes his eyes, saying his name with such longing.

"Shouto?" Izuku nervously begins to chuckle, unsure of what's going on as his face grows hot.

Shouto savors the moment, not immediately speaking as he basks in the moment. If it's the first and last moment they'd share in an intimate hold, then he'd cherish it forever. "Come with me, there's something I need to show you" he pleads with an urgency laced in his words. He wants the truth to be out there for his own peace of mind and for Izuku to finally know. The only thing that he can wait on, is the rejection that he feels looming in the horizon.

Katsuki's pining over Ochako while Shouto's pining for Izuku. Both halves of their crushes were more than likely dating each other leaving them in this mess. He knows that it's not their faults, Ochako and Izuku had no clue that two of their classmates felt this strongly about them.

In the back of his mind, he's hoping that everything works out for Katsuki and Ochako.

Right here, right now, he's currently waiting for Izuku to react but the flowers don't wait for anyone. Shouto lets go of the wooden door to cover his coughs. Green petals spill out of him in bunches, the most that he's ever seen come out at once in a while. Izuku's feet get covered as he frantically looks down and bends to pick one up.

Shouto's flowers were for the most part dry and looked as if they had been plucked straight out of a garden. A slightly disappointed sigh escapes his lips, knowing that his body just ruined the surprise but that still won't stop him from making it a heartfelt confession.

"Green carnations?" Izuku raises a curious brow at the flowers.

One of Shouto's favorite charms about Izuku is his innocence, figuring that he's unaware of what this means. To his surprise, he watches Izuku twirl the fully bloomed flower between his thumb and index finger with knowing eyes. The petals on the carnation a mirror image of Izuku's own green eyes.

"Shouto, you have hanahaki" Izuku can't help the frown that appears on his freckled face, "is there… is there any way that I can help?" he asks, oblivious to the fact that this was about him.

Shouto feels his heart skip a beat as his gut twists inside. Leave it to Izuku to worry about others.

"Yes, I'll explain on the roof"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Ooh my sweet, sweet Katsuki. I'm so sorry for making you suffer but you must for a little while longer!

Shouto's condition seems like a cake walk when comparing both of them.

This is intentional due to the fact that Katsuki has suppressed his feelings for years so when the hanahaki manifested, it started to work quickly within him meanwhile Shouto just barely came to terms with his own crush recently so his is in that starting stage.

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are!

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	4. Freed

AN: HAPPY NEW YEAR'S (EVE for us west coast peeps) EVERYONE! My gift to you is… Fluff but mostly ANGST! Also… Wow! Thank you all so much for the positive reviews! I'm honestly at a loss for words and am quite flattered by it. I didn't really think that this story would blow up as much as it did because this is just a self-indulgent fic to stop my brain from nagging me with a Hanahaki AU. Haha.

This story's main drive has been the Hanahaki theme in the narrative of Katsuki and Shouto's characters. I could've expanded upon how it affects their close friends and crushes but then this story would lose its flair. This chapter and the next will have a slight exception… you'll see.

Note: I've decided on five chapters. Nearly done! Sorry I haven't been able to update sooner but I was busy with school. The last chapter won't take as long! I really don't want to drag this idea further and milk it until it's just a giant angst-fest. That and I also have my other multi-chap Kacchako fics to update and actually finish.

I recently wrote an ooey-goey fluffy Ochako birthday one-shot titled _Baby Be Mine For Christmas_. Please do go and check that out if ya haven't already!

Happy reading~ :D

Freed

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With Shouto's secret now being known to Izuku, he felt like he couldn't set up his confession in the way that he had originally intended for it to play out. If he had allowed himself to patiently plan out everything, this would've been a whole lot more romantic. But realistically speaking, in a way, this was the better choice.

Izuku had physical proof of the green carnations spilling out of Shouto. It was another point to show the shorter male that this was serious and very much about him.

Shouto didn't trust himself with touching Izuku in any way as both males made their way towards the elevators and up to the roof while standing a distance away in the small space. Feeling like he just might impulsively screw up everything he's worked so hard to conceal for months if a single brush of their hands met.

The dual-quirked taller male with his usually stoic and calm demeanor felt his face flare up, half-hot side of his quirk raising the temperature of half his body at the sight of Izuku carrying a bunch of green petals in his arms. He had insisted on bringing them along as if it were a deconstructed flower bouquet.

Izuku sets the green carnation petals into two emptied glass mason jars set on a table right next to the outdoor couches surrounding the firepit. Three other identical jars were placed on the table, filled with little white vanilla bean scented tealights – courtesy of Mina and Kyouka.

Shouto went to the black metallic wood rack to pick out a few pieces of thin logs to set into the firepit. Giving him an excuse to stall for time as he set up a nice cozy fire for them. The nights were slowly getting colder and he's hoping that they'll be out here for a while.

Izuku flipped the switch to turn on the fairy lights, illuminating the roof's deck in a soft yellow glow. The lights had been Denki and Ochako's idea. Every nook and cranny of the deck had something of their classmate's input. From scented candles, to stringed lights, to Tsuyu's lily pad patterned circular rug on the floor, Koji's furniture pillows stitched with animal designs, and even a minimalist like Mezo providing a kotatsu which was currently placed in storage.

Izuku himself shyly included an All Might inspired throw blanket, where he was currently seated on the couch as he waited for Shouto to sit at his side so they can talk. Not knowing that this was about him, he really wanted to help out his friend with his dilemma in any way he can. Hanahaki wasn't an everyday occurrence – it was surprisingly rare due to the severity of the symptoms associated with the disease.

Someone would have to really, really, _really_ be in love in order to suffer with it. So madly in love that they couldn't do anything about it as they watched the flowers bloom. And just as much, that person would have to go through a whirlwind of unrequited love. The one thing no one ever talked about when it came to hanahaki – the pain.

Everyone thought it was beautiful to cough up colorful flower petals, some even claiming that the color of your love's flower petals being the very color of their soul. For years it had been highly debated whether or not hanahaki was the closest to the belief of having a soulmate because only a small percentage of people, who fought through the disease, ended up happily in love with the one they once sought after.

The survival rate was terrifyingly low with most people opting to let the flowers engulf them whole before ever confessing. Izuku vividly remembers seeing a news special once on perserved forests dedicated to honor and mourn those that lost their love battle to the flower disease.

Izuku deeply frowned. It wasn't fair that Shouto had to deal with something as beautifully wicked as this. He too agreed that the flowers were pretty and surprisingly real – for some reason, he thought that the flowers wouldn't be. Flowers growing within someone, using their ribs to wrap vines, blossoming without swallowing seeds – it just seemed unreal.

How does Izuku even begin to help out? He wants to be considerate, handle this with delicacy, and keep his mumbled thoughts down to a minimum. He'd be of no help if he just starts to get lost in his own thoughts before getting to the bottom of this.

"Izuku," he hears Shouto speak up, "I know you'll be inclined to help me but…" he gulps down bitter floral scented saliva, "you can't help me like you'd wish to"

This threw Izuku for a loop, causing him to tilt his head and knit his brows together. "Huh?" he dumbly replies, crossing his arms over his chest and rubbed his chin in a thoughtful manner.

"This disease isn't anyone's fault… but my own" Shouto begins explaining, settling himself right next to Izuku's side and courageously took the confused male's hands into his own slightly shaky ones. "My condition isn't severe because I have my sibling's love to fall back on. I don't really feel much pain despite how rough I cough or how sore my throat gets. It's bearable but what wouldn't be is losing you"

"M-Me?" Izuku chokes on the word as he wills his eyes to remain on his best friend's honest face and not on the shaky hands holding his own clammy ones.

"Izuku," Shouto whispers, bracing himself to confess. No matter what happens tonight, he's reminded himself like a broken mantra that he won't come out of this with a broken heart and start second-guessing his own worth. He'd continue to live with his unrequited love and patiently wait for the right person to appear and hopefully mend the cracked pieces.

He at least deserved that much for his own happiness. "I can't hide my feelings for you anymore as much as I'd like to," he slides his long fingers along his pale throat, "the one good thing about hanahaki is that it forces you to face your own feelings and come to term with them…" he closes his eyes as he feels the brewing storm of oncoming green petals getting ready to burst out of him, "I'm in love with you, Izuku" he bluntly confesses, there really was no point to stall the inevitable.

"M-Me?" Izuku repeats with a flustered face. Subconsciously he lets go of Shouto's hand, not because he's rejecting him but because the confession came as a shock. "Why would you love me?" he twiddles his fingertips together and avoids eye contact, "I'm clumsy" Izuku lists with one hand, first raising his thumb, "I have a tendency to talk to myself" he lifts his index finger, "if we dated, most of our dates would be in hospital wards" he points out with his middle finger, "I'm uhh… impulsive…" he lifts his ring finger, beginning to struggle to find more negative aspects, "I'm no good, Shouto!" he shakily points to himself with his pinky finger, "I'm broken, scarred, bruised and never want to place you in second to my main goal of becoming the next Symbol of Peace"

Izuku shrinks into himself, wrapping his arms around himself as he avoids eye contact. He's always liked Shouto, sometimes denying that there was something more there. Some lingering feeling that maybe, just maybe, Shouto could feel that tiny spark there. He's tried shoving down his own feelings, thinking nothing of it whenever Shouto needed his help.

Shouto was always the first one to run to his aid. It has always been Shouto that Izuku fell back on. Could always rely on to be there for him. Shouto was the one person he's never once doubted. Izuku had convinced himself long ago that it was what friends did, right? At least, he tried drilling that into his head.

"Izuku," Shouto begins, squeezing the green-haired male's hands, "you're not perfect but to me, you are" he allows a small smile to form on his lips, "maybe I'm not the one for you but in my heart, in my very soul, you're everything to me" he squeezed harder as he felt the incoming wave of flower petals fluttering about in the pit of his stomach. He didn't need to add how he's being honest, his hanahaki condition was already proof enough of his genuine feelings.

"You love me" Izuku stuttered out.

"Yes, I love you" Shouto confirms.

"You're in love with _me_ " Izuku whispered to himself as if still processing the news.

"Yes," Shouto gently tugged Izuku closer, closing the gap between them as he leaned over to whisper into his ear, "very much so" he hotly says.

Izuku audibly gasps, shivering as he felt a chill run down his spine. He knows that it wasn't from Shouto's quirk but from the way the dual-tone male boldly started to shower him in affection. Izuku could feel Shouto's lips peck the shell of his ear before moving away to peck his temples, forehead, closed eyelids, slowly traveling down towards the tip of his nose and cheeks until ultimately stopping at his quivering lips. He could feel his heart beating like a well-oiled drum.

"May I?" Shouto whispers, his lips ghosting against Izuku's turning them tingly.

Izuku squeezes Shouto's hand back as he puckers his lips and initiates the kiss first.

Shouto wanted to say more, do more; express himself in all sorts of ways but kissing Izuku felt like pure ecstasy. He meant to take things slow as this was as new to him as it was for the freckle-cheeked male. But in the heat of the moment, he felt Izuku ask for more. He happily obliged, deepening the kiss as he laid Izuku on his back. Crawling on top of him, Shouto showered Izuku with love by leaving him breathless – moving from kiss-swollen lips with a final peck towards his neck, feeling Izuku move his head so that Shouto would have more room to pamper his neck with hickeys.

"I…Izu… Izuku…" Shouto shuddered, licking and nibbling Izuku's neck as he felt the aftershocks of Izuku's throat vibrating with his loud moans.

Izuku dug his dull nails into bare skin from where he subconsciously began lifting Shouto's shirt feeling the reflexes of his taut muscles beneath his needy hands.

In the throes of a passionate confession, Shouto could internally feel something coiling and shrinking within him. He wasn't sure if it was his flowers but his heart was feeling frantic and overly hyperactive in the most positive of ways.

It was a bit scary at first but mostly, thrilling.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Shiiiiit" Katsuki curses under his breath as he examined himself in his mirror.

His entire torso was a deep purplish-red color, bruised to the max by his internal vines crushing his frail ribs. He knows that he was being stupid by not immediately rushing towards the infirmary to get checked out. Internal bleeding and cracked ribs were already enough of a problem on their own but he also has thick thorny vines and disgustingly marred pink flower petals to account for.

Slowly and with much care, he puts his arm into one sleeve of his school uniform and then does the same with the other one. He then winces and nearly cries when he looked down in order to button his shirt up correctly.

His pain had gotten much worse in a matter of hours. Katsuki wasn't joking when he said that he probably only had a week left in him but at the rate he was going, he'd be lucky if he could survive two more days.

Ochako was his greatest strength just as she was his very weakness and she didn't even know.

Crinkling his nose, biting down hard on his bottom lip, while trying not to pass out – Katsuki put on his grey hoodie on and nearly fell over on weakening knees when he had to slowly roll the sweater down his body.

"Don't fuckin' cry…" his lips wobble with that all too familiar feeling of his lips quivering in a desperate need to audibly show how much he's hurting.

Blinking back the oncoming tears, he instead yells for Eijirou to come to his room not having enough strength to walk over to his wall to bang against it or send a simple text to his best friend.

Right away, Eijirou opened Katsuki's door and came in to help him with his school bag and walk him to class.

"Dude! Why didn't you call me sooner? I could've helped ya put on your sweater!" Eijirou lectures as he pulled it further down for Katsuki as the blond merely grunted in both thanks and stubbornness.

Katsuki hates how dependent on Eijirou he's become. Both Eijirou and Shouto know about how severe his hanahaki has gotten and have advised him time and time again to think about what he's doing and have done everything in their power to keep him alive. He'd never tell it to their faces but he greatly appreciates it.

Eijirou let go of Katsuki's forearm as soon as they were standing in front of their classroom's door. Putting on his brightest smile that could rival even the sun, Eijirou opened the door and projected his voice as he ran towards his girlfriend Mina to sweetly greet her and the rest of their squad. Hanta and Denki both loudly laughed at something Eijirou said as the red-head wrapped his arms around Mina's waist and peppered her cheek in kisses.

Outside, Katsuki braced himself as his eyes wandered towards Ochako who was sitting on top of a desk with her legs crossed while squishing Izuku's chubby cheeks in her hold as she used a pink marker on his freckles to connect the dots into a geometric heart shape. Her tongue was sticking out in a thoughtful manner while she finished both hearts on the boy's flustered cheeks.

Katsuki couldn't let out a growl even if he wanted to. His teeth were chattering from his aching jaw, throat feeling constricted and sore from his morning petal plucking. This time he not only had his usual gross looking wilted flowers but they were accompanied with a surprise bare stem covered in nothing but thorns that ripped his scarred throat open again causing him to spit out blood clots.

His eyes lingered on the offensive sight of Izuku and Ochako goofing off when a new revelation hit him. Entering the room with a small pained whimper, his eyes locked onto Shouto who just joined the duo and weaved his fingers with Izuku's. Ochako clapped her hands and let out a small squeal, gushing over what Katsuki is assuming her reaction to this new dynamic.

It became clear to Katsuki in that moment that Shouto managed to confess and have his feelings reciprocated. From the looks of it, Ochako seemed more than okay with this.

Did… did he have it wrong all this time? Was he that much of a dumbass that he couldn't even digest the fact that maybe, just maybe there has never been anything between Izuku and Ochako?

Joining his own group, Katsuki ignored their blabber as he stayed entranced by the other group across the room. It wasn't long until Tenya was informed about his own friends but Katsuki didn't care about him nor Shouto and that guppy Deku. He only cares about Ochako, studying her with narrowed eyes to make sure she wasn't faking her happiness towards the newly declared couple.

When his fading red eyes watched her group for far too long, Ochako's own toffee browns locked onto his and softly smiled at him with a wave of her hand to greet him.

It was too much for Katsuki as he retracted and coward away.

In that moment, he could feel the vines snap yet another rib. Soon enough he wouldn't be able to properly breath.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Later that evening after Eijirou had escorted him to the infirmary so that Recovery Girl could administer a double dose of morphine and then helped him get into bed once they reached the dorms – Katsuki laid there, staring up at his ceiling for what felt like hours when it had only been thirty minutes as his ragged breath and wheezing were the only noises surrounding him.

He's feeling like the luckiest son of a bitch for Recovery Girl not getting on his case about his dire prognosis. He knows that she's aware of what's going with him having been keeping track of his decline but without his consent to get an updated x-ray, she'll never fully know to what extent her assumptions are true.

Katsuki longs for many things in his weakened state.

Food. Love. Comfort.

In the darkness of his room while he feels like he's teetering between life and death, he forces his eyes close and just envisions the angel of his dreams.

"Ochako…" his raspy voice sounds foreign even to himself but for a single moment he forgets about everything and finally manages to drift off for a second as he pictures a peaceful life with her.

He sees them graduating, moving in together, supporting each other as pro heroes in their respected fields… and in his wildest dreams, he sees them walking down the aisle. Marriage, kids, a whole lifetime with her.

And then his dreams warp with a snap of a finger. He sees her wearing a black dress and veil, bawling and crying over his opened casket as he lays there lifeless but beautiful, surrounded in a bed of his once gorgeous pink snapdragons.

Katsuki doesn't like the image of her crying, hearing her sorrowful wails and the way her face gets streaked in blotchy runny mascara.

What's worse is that in his nightmare, he sees Shouto and Izuku comforting her.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Ochako glanced down at the last text message she sent Mina. After ten minutes, it was still left unread. Grumbling to herself when her fifth knock on the wall dividing their rooms went unanswered, she got up from her bed and slipped on her lounge slippers and went to go knock on her friend's door instead.

"Mina! Is everything okay in there?" Ochako tries knocking one more time before giving up.

It doesn't help that Mina's last message sounded urgent and in need of help.

After waiting exactly ten minutes in the empty hallway with the air conditioning kicking on as her only company. Ochako was ready to go back to the comfort of her own room when the door in front of her suddenly opened.

Startling her, she jumped back in defense and then gasped when she finally saw Mina come out.

"What happened?!" Ochako asks, chewing on her inner cheek to stop her from having a giggling fit at the sight in front of her.

"I accidentally bought bleach instead of my usual shampoo. I swear the bottles looked the same!" Mina clutched onto her now blonde hair, running her fingers through it as her natural pink hair was now a mix of light pink and blonde chunks. "Can… can you please go fetch Ei? I need his help but I can't be seen this way!" she begged Ochako with watering puppy dog eyes and a huge frown on her lips.

Ochako had to clasp a hand over her mouth to stop her laughter before she got carried away. "Okay, okay. Relax! I'll go get him so he can fix your mess but y'know…" she couldn't help her playful teasing, feeling the need to say this one thing. "You look like a beautiful pineapple" she complimented right as she dodged Mina's grabby hands by jumping, slapping her hands against her legs to activate her quirk to float up. Once she was at a safe distance, she ran down the hallway towards the elevator.

"One Eijirou coming right up!" Ochako said as if taking a waitressing order.

"Thank you! I love you but you're still evil!" Mina called out as she watched Ochako enter the opening elevator and get in. Going to the opposite side of the fourth floor, Ochako chuckled to herself in good spirits as she got out of the elevator and made her way to Eijirou's room with a skip in her step.

"Uhuhu, wait until he hears about this!" she talks to herself, anticipating his reaction to Mina's hair.

Standing right in front of the red-head's dorm room, she curls her hand into a small fist to knock against the door while she's still amused at the thought of how in the world Mina even mistook bleach for shampoo. She's about to knock when she jolts back at the sound of something animalistic echoing through the hall.

It definitely wasn't coming from Eijirou's room.

"AAARRGGHHHH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS! _PLEASE_ , MAKE IT STOP!" she hears the tortured howls.

Honing in on the voice, Ochako doesn't take another second to think about it. "Katsuki!" she yells, rushing towards his room.

"PLEASE, PLEASE, MAKE IT _STOP_!" he cries out, choking back on the floral blood flooding out of him faster than he can spit it out.

Ochako thanked the universe for the door being unlocked. Running in, she switched his light on and found Katsuki on the floor tightly clutching onto his stomach in a fetal position. Dropping down on her knees, she can feel the warmth of a liquid on her skin but doesn't worry about it as she gently tries placing her hands on him.

"Katsuki! What's wrong?! I'm… I'm here!" she feels him flinch at her touch as his body convulses in pain.

"PLEASE, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE!" he shrieks and coughs out a puddle of blood drizzled with disfigured pink clumps.

Ochako's knees and hands get stained in his blood. "B-Blood?!" she looks down at her quaking hands, her heart nearly stops at the sight. "Hang on! I'm… I'll go get help!" she tries her best to remain calm.

This is what she'll be doing in the near future as a rescue hero but it was harder knowing that this was her fellow classmate and friend in need of help. She doesn't like the idea of keeping him unattended but without anyone else in the room, she could only hope that he'll be okay for a short few minutes as she runs out to go get Eijirou and Mezo who both live on the same floor.

Her heart erratically thumps with a jumpy pulse as she debates on what to do. Her answer quickly comes to her when Katsuki stops shouting. She knows that she hasn't lost him but the silence was deafening.

"Katsuki, please say something!" she begs as she cups his pale cheeks in her palms. His face was burning up and his mouth was smeared with blood and something pink she wasn't sure on. Ochako wiped his lips clean as she readjusted him, placing his head on her lap as she massaged his cheek with the pad of her thumb. With her free hand, she shakily took out her phone remembering that she had it on her and dialed the school's infirmary before sending an s.o.s text to their class group chat.

Bleary crimson eyes opened five minutes later to the sight of worried caramels. "Angel Face…" he hums, swallowing back the taste of flora and iron. He hates that she's caught him looking like this in his most pathetic, vulnerable state but at least he was alert enough now.

Ochako looked down at him, relieved by his calm demeanor. It wasn't that long ago that he was screaming and hunched over. Fighting back her tears, she asks, "Katsuki, what's wrong?"

Katsuki had finally found his resolve. In the morning, he had planned on confessing to her. Whether she rejected him or not was something he'd come to terms with and deal with head on but now his time had been cut short. It just proved to him that life wasn't fair. His nightmare was coming true and for that, there wasn't enough apologies in the world he could give her to tell and show her just how sorry he is.

"I'm… dying, Sweet Cheeks" he confesses with a painful sigh.

"W-What?" she croaks, "Tha-that's not fu-funny!" she cries, her hot tears raining down on his face.

"I ain't joking…" he briefly closes his eyes, feeling her tears cool down his burning face.

"Ochako"

"Y-Yes?"

"I fuckin' love you"

"W-What?"

Katsuki opens his eyes to find hers frantically searching his.

"How can you be dying if you're in love with me?!" she feels herself starting to hyperventilate. "This is my fault isn't it?" she asks trying to make sense of things even if none of it does. "I'm so sorry, Katsuki! I…"

Katsuki shuts her up by using what little strength he has left to lift his arm up and placed his index finger against her quivering lips to shush her. "It's the hanahaki, not you" he tells her right as his head goes slack, his arm falling back down as his eyes close.

"Ka… Katsuki?" Ochako reaches down to his wrist to feel for a pulse. When she doesn't feel it, she checks his neck and gets no response. "Katsuki!" she shakes him, "Katsuki!" she shakes again, "KATSUKI!" she wails feeling completely helpless. The only thing she can do is shake him and wait for help.

Her blood covered phone begins to ding letting her know that Recovery Girl and Aizawa were on their way. The rest of her class, with the exception of Mina had gone out to the movies and shopping plaza so they would take longer to return.

Ochako's eyes lit up when she thought that Katsuki gained consciousness again. There was so much left unsaid; things they needed to have a long discussion about. Instead, she's greeted to the feeling and sight of him going into shock as he rolled off her. Later, she gets informed it was due to his blood loss.

A bright fluorescent light coming from outside illuminated the room right as the adults came in. Recovery girl came in ready with equipment and medical assistants with Aizawa right behind them.

Ochako could only watch in her horror as Katsuki continued to spiral down with a seizure. Knowing that she couldn't touch him as he rode his episode out, she could only blubber and step away to go stand next to Aizawa as Recovery Girl did her thing.

Once they had stabilized him, Ochako stopped the elderly school nurse from placing the oxygen mask on Katsuki. "Wait! Please" she begged right as she walked up to the stretcher they have him on.

Ochako silently gets on the tips of her toes to lean over him and cups his cheeks in order to touch her lips with his in the barest hint of a kiss. Tasting his sweet blood on her lips, Ochako does nothing to wipe it off as she watches them take Katsuki away while hugging herself.

She's terrified that this is the last time she'll ever get to see him.

"Katsuki, you big idiot"

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Done! To be continued.

Tune in next time for the ending + epilogue!

Yay! Shouto was able to confess and it was both a sweet and mild moment. ;D

Oh my sweet Katsuki, I'm so sorry you had to suffer a ton in this fic. Him crying out in pain is a scene that my brain nagged me for _months_ on.

I'm happy I was finally able to update this fic!

Please do review! Follows and Alerts tell me that you guys are at least interested in the story but reviews really let me hear out what your feedback and personal opinions on my stories are!

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.


	5. Cured

AN: My bad, I got so wrapped up in other fics that I haven't given this idea the proper time to complete it. To be honest, I've kinda struggled a bit with this chapter even tho it's a happy one! No more _extreme_ angst-fest which ironically felt easier to write.

I'm still just so... SHOOKETH with the amount of attention this story received and I can't thank y'all enough for tuning in for what my brain likes to nag me with. Haha. But yeah, I just hope that the long wait/hype for the last chap was worth it. *Sweats profusely*

Happy reading~ :D

Cured

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Izuku had been confessed to, finding the love of his life in Shouto. But he wasn't able to enjoy it as much as he would have liked when he and Shouto got the s.o.s text from Ochako.

They rushed straight for Musutafu General having been closer to the hospital than their dorms. Shouto would normally enjoy abusing his father's credit card for expenses but needed a faster driver as he quickly called for the Todoroki family's personal chauffeur.

Meanwhile Izuku fumbled with his clumsy fingers to dial Ochako as he heard her pick up and couldn't make out what she was even saying through her blubbering. The only words he could were "Katsuki", "hospital", "my fault."

Izuku desperately wanted to comfort her and tell her that none of this was her fault but he didn't want to blame the dying blond either. It was just like Kacchan to be stubborn until the very end. For as much as he and Katsuki have had their ups and down, he didn't want to see his childhood friend die either.

"Izuku, the car's here" Shouto informs with a fearful tone.

He admits that when he had first stepped onto U.A. grounds, accepted in based on recommendation, never would he have imagined that he'd befriend his entire class let alone the feral blond that acted more like an overly confident wild animal half the time than a normal human.

Shouto and Katsuki weren't the best of friends, in fact, they still weren't close but had found a strange sense of camaraderie through their shared disease. While his case wasn't as dire as the blond's, that shorter amount of time he suffered with it still immensely hurt. He couldn't imagine just how more intense it was for him if they're visiting the hospital. He just hopes it's not to the morgue.

On their ride to the hospital as they sped past the night life of the bustling city via the freeway. Izuku impatiently started to bounce his leg as he propped an elbow against the door's window and tapped his knuckles against the glass.

He wanted to stay on the line with Ochako as she cried her heart out through the receiver but he also needed to preserve his phone's battery in case there was any updates on the whereabouts of the rest of their class who had all gotten the same emergency text.

Izuku's only comfort was Shouto silently weaving their fingers together as he lifted their interlocked hand to kiss the top of the green-haired male's knuckles. "He's a fighter" Shouto reminds his worried boyfriend while fighting back a floral scented cough.

"Are you okay though?" Izuku quietly asks.

The dual-tone male nods without saying a word because he knows Izuku is just fishing for things to fill their silence with. Shouto was already cured from the hanahaki, even having gone to Recovery Girl to get the all clear to ease Izuku's mind before they even attempted going on their first real date that was cut short due to Katsuki's condition worsening.

When they arrived, Shouto let Izuku know that it was okay for him to go on up without him needing to tell his family's driver where to wait for them. Izuku leaned into Shouto to peck his cheek before scooting out of the car's backseat and rushed like a madman towards the emergency entrance of the hospital.

There, he gave his information to a free nurse in the busy station who redirected him to another section of the building. Slapping on his visitor's sticker to the front of his jacket, he ran towards the elevator once he got clearance from the security officer.

"Ochako!" Izuku breathlessly called out when he neared the waiting room in where he found Ochako curled up against Eijirou's side. Both friends' faces streaked with tears and tired looking eyes.

"Izu… Izuku…" Ochako croaked, throat hoarse and straining for words as her lips wobbled at the sight of him.

Izuku caught her in his arms as he tightly hugged her and kissed her hair as she chanted how it was her fault that Katsuki was now dying.

His heart hurt for her.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Shouto entered the waiting room not long after Izuku, giving him the space needed in order to comfort their friend.

It was heartbreaking to see Ochako in this state, wishing that he too could do something but as he was informed by a nurse on the floor they're on – this was one giant waiting game until the doctors release any updates to their guardians. In this case, it was Aizawa and Recovery Girl.

As they all waited: he, Izuku, Ochako, Eijirou, Mina who was wearing a hat indoors, and their teachers; they had been shaken by a loud cracking voice yelling, coming from outside the nurse's station.

"That's _my_ fuckin' son! Don't give me that bullshit that you can't release the information to _me_! That's _my_ child!" the voice yelled as it began breaking.

"Dear…" another soothing voice tried to diffuse the situation.

Shouto peered his head out the waiting room's door, recognizing the couple down the hall as Katsuki's parents. He couldn't help but frown knowing the medical staff had to follow protocol but there was also no way of easily settling a distraught mother's heart.

"I have to," he hears Ochako whisper by his side, seeing her shake her head, "no, I _need_ to tell her this is all my fault" she says sounding exhausted and defeated as if she fought a long strenuous battle with her doppelgänger except, she's the evil one.

Shouto gently reached for her wrist to stop her, "please don't blame yourself"

"I…" Ochako sharply inhales, "I killed Katsuki" she refuses to accept anything but, "I took their son away from them" she tightly balls her hands into fists, the whites of her knuckles hurting as half-crescent indents mark her inner palms. She held her fists with such force that she nearly drew blood. "He… he loved me and I didn't even know" her breath shudders with a heavy exhale. "What kind of heartless person does that?" she shakes her head in disbelief at how stupidly oblivious she had been.

She could still taste the iron and flowery flavor of his blood on her lips, feel his dried blood beneath her nails, and hear the echoes of how agonizing his screams sounded.

"I'm not… I'll never be a hero now" she sadly finds her resolve as the tears begin to blur her vision again, "I'm a murderer" her petite body quivers as she lets go of her tightly held fists to cover her eyes with her palms as she cried.

Shouto pulled her into him as he wrapped his arms around her. "He's not dead yet, you hear me?" he tried reassuring her as he lightly squeezed her, trying to stop her from allowing the negative thoughts to consume her. He knew all too well what that dark path of self-loathing was like and didn't wish it upon any of his most cherished friends.

"H-How… can… yo-you be so… s-sure?" her voice gets muffled burrowed in his warm chest as the fabric of his shirt absorbs her fluids. She probably ruined his favorite shirt with her hot tears and running nose for all she knows.

"Because this is Bakugou we're talking about" he softly chuckles as he sways Ochako in his arms to relax her tension, "that stubborn bastard loves you too much to leave you so broken"

Ochako uncovered her face to wrap her arms around Shouto's neck to properly hug him as his kind words struck her with a new wave of emotion.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

A few hours later, Aizawa woke the small group of friends up letting them know that everything was okay. He informed them that the rest of their class was back at the dorms with All Might taking care of things. Normally he wouldn't want to release such detailed updates of what has been going on with one of his students in order to not cause a panic amongst the rest but he supposes he has a soft spot for them all and knows how close they all were.

"His parents are with him now" Aizawa tells them as he looks directly at Ochako, "he's stable"

His words pierced the brunette as she let out a relieved gasp and nodded with the first sign of a smile on her lips in what felt like ages for them all. "He's stable…" she repeats the words to herself, wanting to etch them deep into her soul. "He's okay"

One by one, they all had gotten their thirty minutes with Katsuki. Aizawa suggesting that they shouldn't spend too long in his room seeing as the blond needed his rest. They all understood as they did as they were told.

Ochako was the last one waiting to go in, nervously feeling her stomach coil in on her as she paced around the small waiting room.

Right outside the room, she could still see the Bakugou's in the hallway, talking to whom she assumes is Katsuki's doctor. "I still feel like I should apologize to them for causing all this" she speaks up, knowing Shouto was observing her as he ran his fingers through Izuku's green unruly hair as the shorter male slept splayed across several rubbery cushioned seats.

They had told her that they wouldn't return back to the dorms unless she was with them not wanting to leave her alone at the hospital. Ochako greatly appreciated their concern for her but still tried to defend herself by reminding them that she wouldn't be alone. Aizawa and Recovery Girl would still be there until she was finished. She could've just gotten a ride back to the dorms with them.

"His irresponsibility isn't your burden to bare" Shouto reminds her.

No matter how many different ways he or anyone else told her that it wasn't her fault. Which she understood loud and clear. She'd always feel guilty that she was the catalyst in this all.

The singularity ripple in a chain of events.

If she had known from the very start of Katsuki's feeling then none of this might've happened.

If she had known too late, she didn't want to think about how she'd had broken a mother's heart and deprived the world of an amazing young hero.

"Uraraka, you're up" Aizawa walked back into the room to fetch her.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Katsuki doesn't remember a single thing after apparently having a seizure and flatlining in his dorm room's floor.

A white light briefly blinds him, shining directly into his tired eyes as he wakes up in a stale white noise buzzing hospital room.

The light being just the room's annoying fluorescents as he looked away. The soft beeps of his ekg monitor showing him that he is in fact still alive with a beating heart. His wandering eyes followed the cord of the IV that was inserted on the top of his left hand. It being connected to two pouches, one of saline solution and the other with a clear pink liquid with a drip and pole to his side and other machines he doesn't care to question.

All that matters to him is that he's still alive and kicking.

The only thing he managed to check before his first visitors entered his room was the bandages wrapped around his severely bruised torso. He was either pleasantly hopped up on morphine to not feel any pain or devoid of any emotions by getting a forced hanahaki removal surgery.

Panic washes over his features. Having his feelings for Ochako forcefully removed without his consent wasn't what he wanted in the end. But if he was panicking, then he was still capable of feeling emotions, right?

His theory was proven right with a surge of intense relief washing over him when he saw his parents frantically enter the room with its soft hums of machines doing their job and Katsuki's eyes watered at the sight of his parents. Throughout his suffering, he mentally fought back the thoughts of his parents. Instead he had focused on his brooding over how he could never get the girl of his dreams because he was a coward that wanted nothing but the best for her in the end thinking he could never amount to that.

He realizes now, in his second chance, that if only he had been honest with himself and his feelings since the very beginning then none of this would've happened.

One by one, he had been visited by his friends. Eijirou had accidentally attempted to give him a hug which Katsuki allowed until he was groaning in pain and whimpered out that it wasn't the red-head's fault for wanting to be affectionate.

Mina had gotten a chuckle out of Katsuki when she showed him the mess that currently is her hair. Telling him that once he returns to the dorms, that she was going to be back to normal in her luscious pink curls so he had better enjoyed the rare show.

Katsuki nearly rolled his eyes, fighting the urge to cross his arms over his chest when Izuku walked in bawling like an idiot and letting him know how relieved he was. In the end, Katsuki surprised him by apologizing. Izuku asked him what for as Katsuki admitted that he felt jealous about his and Ochako's closeness now knowing he was in the wrong to have gotten so worked up over the friends' relationship.

Then after him, came Shouto who had some choice words for the blond. Katsuki scoffed, telling the two-tone male to cut him some slack before causing his internal bleeding to get any worse. He too had gotten both an apology and a thanks from the stubborn male. Shouto acknowledged his words as they shook hands. Katsuki jokingly promised to not cause anymore trouble for the taller male as Shouto told him that he better not with a small smile gracing his lips.

Aizawa and Recovery Girl both then came in together to inform him on his condition. No, they didn't remove the plant growth inside of him but they gave him a liquid that helps to shrink the flowers and vines like a weed killer – so that helped to explain whatever that weird pink translucent liquid hanging from his IV pole even was.

The only thing that Recovery Girl still couldn't find a plausible explanation for – is _how_ his hanahaki just seemed to cease. The disease was on the brink of killing him, the thorns already puncturing into internal organs hence the bleeding and bruising, and the vines snapped a couple of ribs making it excruciatingly painful to breath, his snapdragons were beyond disfigured to the point of clumping up and forming blood clots.

Katsuki should've been dead.

It was a miracle he wasn't.

When Katsuki heard the detailed description of his condition, his face paled, not wanting to hear the on-going list of what else he let happen inside of him. He knew he was a dead man walking but not how bad he had stupidly allowed it to get having refused to get checked at the school's infirmary.

"My Dear, the only thing I can think of that makes any sense is that you were literally saved by true love's first kiss" the elderly nurse tells him.

If Katsuki wasn't admitted to a hospital out of necessity and waking up on a nice plush bed rather than on a cold steel slab down below in the morgue getting ready to be prodded like a twisted horticultural lab experiment then he'd laugh, say what the fuck, and refuse to believe such nonsense.

Instead, he gives the two adults standing besides him a dumbfounded look waiting for them to explain.

"Uraraka kissed you" Aizawa deadpans, not beating around the bush as the elderly nurse might have.

All Katsuki can do is nod as he's left to stew in his thoughts while fighting a strong urge to go back to sleep but something was telling him not to give into the comfort of knowing he's safe just yet.

He still hasn't seen the one person that is currently making the ekg machine erratically beep at the mere thought of.

"You're here" he hears a soft voice say as it stands right at the entrance of his room.

The machine goes off again in beep after beep as his heart rate picks up at the sight of Ochako standing a distance before him.

"A… Angel" his breath stills.

His eyes silently ask her to come forth, to not be afraid of getting closer. She shakes her head as he watches her composure crumble.

"I'm not…" she lets her tears drip down onto the linoleum floors, referring to his sweet nickname for her.

"You'll always be my Angel, Ochako" he's brutally honest in his softness with her, not wanting her to blame herself for any of this nor wanting to continue fighting his own feelings for her.

He'd return to being his usual loud-mouth, can be a dick at times, energetic self tomorrow but for now, right now as he thanks the universe for allowing him to still be here in order to see her, feel her, love her.

For now, he lets all his guards down.

"Ochako, please don't run away"

Ochako's mind told her to take that step back out of the room but her heart told her to take another step forward into the room. His voice sounded so tired and pleading but she was terrified of hurting him again.

"I'm not fragile" he uses his own words about her to let her know that he's not going to shatter like glass if she got closer to him.

It helped her to take that step forward but still keeping her distance.

"You love me but all I've done is cause you pain" she fumbles with the hem of her tank top having changed from her bloodied pajamas.

"No you haven't, I'm the one that caused my own damn pain. I'm the fuckin' dumbass here, not you 'Cheeks" he grumbles out, hating how she wanted to take the blame for all this.

"Then why didn't you tell me sooner?" she tries rubbing away the fresh tears as her legs subconsciously bring her to stand besides his bed, "I could've taken your pain away instead of cause more of it" she hiccups as she shakes her head.

Katsuki gently reached for her hand to pry it away from her face as he ignored the increased number on the heart monitor showing a psychical sign of his feelings. He takes a moment to hold her trembling hand in his before pressing his lips against the top of her hand but doesn't move.

"I'm sorry Katsuki! I'm so sorry!" she cries harder when she feels him kiss her hand and tugged her closer to where he could give her a half-hug while gritting his teeth when he's definitely felt the pain of moving his torso too much.

"I'm the sorry one, Ochako. I love you and was being a fuckin' coward about telling you"

"Did you think I was going to reject you? Because I love you too, Katsuki"

"Yeah just like I thought you and Deku were a thing"

Ochako can't help but softly laugh at that which was music to Katsuki's ears after causing her so much grief.

"I love him but not like that"

"Hmph, figures"

"So… what does this mean for your hanahaki? Is it gone?"

"For the most part, yeah I'm cured" Katsuki adjusts himself, letting go to rest his back against the pile of pillows behind him. He genuinely smiles up at her as she leaned forward to sweep his droopy bangs up out of his face and gently kissed his forehead.

"You're cured?" she needs to hear it one more time.

"I'm cured" he assures her.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Epilogue: Future

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"So, you basically went Snow White on my ass?" Katsuki asks while walking hand-in-hand with his now girlfriend down Kamino Ward. They were in Yokohama for Katsuki's physical training therapy.

It had been over two months since the hospital incident. His ribs had healed in no time thanks to Recovery Girl taking pity on him and telling him to enjoy the wonders of being young and in love. He could've opted to get his required recovery therapy closer to Musutafu but wanted an excuse to not return so fast to the school dorms.

Now out of the weekly appointment, he was feeling a bit sore but good. Still, he wasn't allowed to return to normal hero training classes which at first had greatly pissed him off but he had begrudgingly understood. He wasn't at his full strength just yet with having a bit of a floral cough but what few petals did come out were a lot healthier and smaller than they've ever been before.

Ochako giggles at the way he puts it, "if Snow White was a vampire, yeah" She teases now being able to lightly joke about these things. She still couldn't believe that someone loved her so much that they were willing to literally die for her. And it was Katsuki of all people who had surprised her in such way.

He rolls his eyes, "was _not_ a vampire"

"There was a lot of blood, okay?" she reminds him as they turn the corner heading towards the direction of a small fast food restaurant.

"At least it wasn't putrid" he shrugs. Everything that had happened felt like one nightmarish dream that he doesn't really remember or at least doesn't want to. He knows he talks a big talk but shit, he'd never wish that kind of torturous pain on anyone. Okay maybe on villains, those assholes got what was coming to them but anyone else was spared in his book.

"Your room did smell like a botanical garden" she notes, silently thanking him as he opens the door for her.

"Only for you, Pink Cheeks" he whispers into her ear, leaning down to kiss her cheek before straightening up. His soft smiles that were only meant for her returns to his usual scowl at the sight of Shouto and Izuku so wrapped up into each other's presence that they fail to see when he and Ochako stand before their booth.

"Get a room!" Katsuki barks right as he plops down by Shouto's side and shoves the male further into the booth causing that damn nerd Deku to jolt and furiously blush at the sight of their friends' arrival.

"S-S-Sorry, didn't see you there Kacchan!" Izuku squeaks out, scooting to give Ochako room to sit down.

"'Course you didn't, being all lovey-dovey 'n' shit" he rolls his eyes, accustomed to the shorter male's easily flustering face for years now but he's gotta admit it was amusing, seeing the subtle rouge tint Shouto's features.

"How was your session today?" Shouto coughs, switching the focus from his relationship to genuine curiosity about the blond's well-being.

"Shit's still hurt but it's not as bad as before" Katsuki informs with a small grunt. He still has a few weeks left, dying to get his all clear to return back to normal, but his steady progress was right on track so he couldn't complain much. Just impatient.

"They lessened his remaining days per week!" Ochako fills in the group as she smiles at them all.

"Oh yeah" Katsuki says as if he's forgotten but his grin plastered on his lips said otherwise. He had gotten special permission from his teachers and Principal Nezu to be able to leave campus for said therapy sessions. Between making up missed work in his classes, completing written battle assignments as his alternative to not being able to physically participate, and then the first few days of traveling back and forth between Musutafu and Yokohama had been a challenge. But he wouldn't have been able to do any of this if he didn't have Ochako at his side.

Damn, he seriously fucking loves this girl.

"That's great news, Kacchan!" Izuku beams, palms flat on the table top as he bursts out of his seat in an energetic shot.

"Yeah, yeah, pipe down will ya?" Katsuki brushes him off with a flick of his wrist.

Izuku sat back down next to Ochako's side and smiled from ear to ear.

"Are we ready to order?" Shouto chuckles, his eyes glancing down towards the menus they haven't bothered to skim through. They've been here plenty of times and never seem to try anything new, sticking to their same orders.

"No need, I hope you don't mind that I ordered in advance for us all" Ochako meekly smiles. She had ordered for the group right as she and Katsuki entered the small diner.

"Eh, it's not like we ever get anything different" Izuku comments with everyone agreeing.

Their food arrives right as their conversation simmers down into a pleasant buzz. While there were a few things left that Katsuki was still dealing with in the aftermath of his severe hanahaki case - things weren't as bleak and dire looking as they once had been.

He was here, in the flesh, sitting amongst friends and enjoying a meal together. Instead of looking over his own funeral as everyone mourns his passing. Especially his parents and Ochako. But that isn't his reality.

Katsuki is still filled with optimism and a passion looking towards his bright future with the love of his life, his goal of becoming the number one hero, and his less than shitty friends he doesn't want to admit he cares for – all, right by his side.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

AN: The End~ Done. :)

All good things must eventually come to an end.

Thank you all for supporting this fic!

I definitely struggled at times with getting this last chap done but I finally did and I'm content with it. Rereading over this entire story made me realize a lot of things from, I guess, being able to write something angsty but also some personal experiences certain emotions that were brought into this story and the very real places they came from. Anyways before I go off on a tangent – that's it for this idea!

Thank you to those who stuck around until the very end. To those that took a liking to my story telling and writing. I aim to write quality fics, stories that I, myself can read over and over again.

With times changing, I can't help but to feel discouraged sometimes whenever I see that other platforms such as AO3 being the preferred for fanfics… so, from the bottom of my heart – thank you for reviewing/favoriting/following this fic and showing me that you as the readers out there are genuinely interested.

This certainly won't be my last fic! I still have so many more Kacchako/BNHA fics in store!

So, even though this fic is now completed – please don't be afraid to continue showing it love! Please do review! Until next time! :D

If anyone is afraid to leave reviews due to language difference - please don't be! I can fluently read Spanish and partial French! :) And hey, that's why Google translate was invented after all! LOL.

So ya know the drill! Tell me what ya think! ;D


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